A new method of synthesizing dopamine-producing neurons, the
predominant type of brain cell destroyed in Parkinson's, offers hope for
creating cell-replacement therapies that reverse the damage.

The method provides an efficient way of making functional cells.
When transplanted into mice and rats with brain damage and movement
problems similar to Parkinson's, the cells integrated into the brain and
worked normally, reversing the animals' motor issues.

The finding brings researchers a step closer to testing a
stem-cell-derived therapy in patients with this disorder. "We finally
have a cell that seems to survive and function and a cell source that we
can easily scale up," says Lorenz Studer,
a researcher at the Sloan Kettering Institute and senior author on the
new study. "That makes us optimistic that this could potentially be used
in patients in the future."